Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Visits Israel; Israeli Troops Battle Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon

Aired July 24, 2006 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, America's top diplomat on the move -- here's what we know, on day thirteen of the Mideast crisis.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Israel right now, after a visit, earlier today, with Lebanon's prime minister.

People gathered on the streets of Beirut, protesting what they see as U.S. support for Israel's offensive.

Meantime, there's word the U.S. has pledged $30 million in humanitarian aid to Lebanon. The first deliveries could start tomorrow. But the White House is still not pressing for an immediate cease-fire, saying it would be impossible to enforce.

Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters traded fire around two southern Lebanese villages today. And Israel says Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at several northern towns.

U.S. Marines helped to evacuate thousands of Americans from Lebanon. That mission is coming to an end, but another one is soon beginning for U.S. troops in the region.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us live now from Larnaca, Cyprus, with more on that -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Kyra.

Well, here in Larnaca, Cyprus, as you said (AUDIO GAP) the military evacuation is coming to an end. Having taken some 10,000 Americans or more out of Lebanon, the U.S. military amphibious warships, those dramatic pictures that we saw over the last several days, all of that coming to an end.

If there are more evacuations of civilians, they are most likely to be done by commercially chartered ships. But there is still a significant naval armada here, six U.S. Navy ships, a number of British warships, even ships from the navy of India. None of them are leaving right now -- everyone waiting to see what the next step is -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What about humanitarian aid? What's going to be coming into the area?

STARR: Well, the -- on the humanitarian assistance front, that's really the next issue here. The U.S. military, in fact, will be providing some sort of out- of-sight, if you will, logistical support, transportation, for humanitarian assistance. They do not want this to have a military footprint, especially a U.S. military footprint.

So, some supplies will come into Cyprus. And the military will help get them to the right locations. And -- but most of it will come -- go into Lebanon by commercially chartered vessels.

Nonetheless, there is a plan, perhaps as soon as tomorrow, for the U.S. military to -- to, perhaps, take in some initial medical supplies, and get then distributed inside Beirut -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr, thanks so much.

Well, while diplomats are talking, the grounds keep shaking, as rockets fly across the Israeli-Lebanese border.

CNN's John Roberts is right in the middle of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm John Roberts, along the border between Israel and Lebanon, where this artillery battery behind me has now, for hours, been laying down punishing fire on the Lebanese side of the border.

Their mission, really, is twofold. It's to go after those Katyusha rocket launch sites that Hezbollah has been using to launch those missile attacks against Israel. Some 98 missiles were fired into northern Israel today, hitting all the typical targets. Haifa got a couple -- a couple of rockets. Nahariya saw some, Karmiel, further to the east, all the way over to Tiberias, along the Sea of Galilee, and up into the Galilee peninsula in Kiryat Shmona.

It's very difficult for them to go after those sites, because those rocket launchers are so mobile, that the Hezbollah can fire them, and, then, move away quickly. So, many times, they will fire off a number of these artillery shells, and they still won't be able to hit those rocket sites.

The other mission for this artillery battery is to lay down suppressing fire in front of advancing Israeli defense forces, as they make their way deeper into south Lebanon. You may remember that they took the town of Maroun al-Ras, just barely across the Israeli border into Lebanon, yesterday. Now they are moving on to a larger town called Bint Jbail, which is known as Hezbollah's stronghold in the south of Lebanon.

Israeli defense forces report that they are encountering intense firefights in that area. So, this artillery really is important in helping those forces move forward by softening up positions before they move in. They can call in an artillery strike to say: We have got some resistance a few hundred yards ahead of us.

And they can literally walk that -- that artillery in to try to soften up that position. They have been doing this here for the last few days. They will continue to do it all night, and, most likely, for the next few days.

John Roberts, with an artillery battery along the Israel-Lebanon border, for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, a surprise stop in the middle of a war zone -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brought promises of humanitarian aid to Lebanon's prime minister, Fuad Siniora, in Beirut. That visit is just one of many headlines out of Lebanon today.

CNN's Michael Ware has the latest now.

Michael, bring us up to date.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you point out, Kyra, Secretary Rice made a lightning, unannounced visit here to Lebanon today.

She brought the promise of aid, which is something, for a deepening humanitarian crisis. Yet, the most difficult element here is, as you yourself said, the U.S. is not, at this point, looking for an immediate cease-fire.

This says that the Israeli defense forces have not yet achieved their aim of crippling the Hezbollah troops battling them in southern Lebanon. And there's plenty of evidence of that, the stiff resistance that the IDF is meeting. And even here in Beirut, there is clear signs of Hezbollah displaying that its infrastructure remains intact.

Its media operations, as just one example, continue to keep pumping out information, daily briefings, tours of their strongholds, very well orchestrated, very well put together -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Michael, the secretary of state said this before she headed to the region, that she's dealing with an organization -- we're talked about Hezbollah -- that has one foot in politics, legitimate politics, as part of the -- the -- the parliament, and then another foot in terrorism.

Let me ask you just about they looming humanitarian crisis and -- and those that live in Hezbollah stronghold areas. Is Hezbollah doing anything to help its people?

WARE: Oh, absolutely.

I mean, this has been one of Hezbollah's strong points for a considerable period of time. They are very effective at the hearts and minds. In fact, in many ways, they have operated, to some degree, as a state within a state, delivering services to their constituency.

We see it now, at this moment, in southern Beirut, areas that have been absolutely pummeled, decimated, by Israeli airstrikes. There are masses, congregations, of refugees. One such grouping is at an unfinished Beirut shopping mall. There are now hundreds and hundreds of refugees hunkered down there.

Hezbollah provides them protection, services. It's even pumping in its own broadcasts of its TV station. So, very much, they are bearing in mind their grassroots support, and attempting to ensure that that does not wither away. Even under fire, they are still trying to consolidate their power base.

PHILLIPS: Michael Ware live from Beirut -- Michael, thanks so much.

Well, huddled under ground for days at a time, not knowing when the next explosion will come, it has been a way of life for thousands of Israelis lately.

Our John Vause shows us why from Nahariya, in northern Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can hear the panic in her voice.

"There are more Katyushas," this woman yells, as she calls everyone inside the bomb shelter.

Safe below ground, they wait, wait for the explosions above, wait for the all-clear, which never seems to come, because the Hezbollah rockets never seem to stop.

Once inside, Daliyah (ph), a mother of three, tells me she's terrified. So, too, is everyone else. This is the debris from an earlier missile strike, she says, which landed just outside the bunker.

"We're stuck underground, and this is not healthy," she says. "We support the prime minister and the Israeli military, but we want to be evacuated. The Lebanese were evacuated. We want to be as well."

The days are long and tense. The nights are worse, they say. The electricity cuts in and out. This is the biggest bomb shelter in Nahariya, a northern Israeli town which has been hit by dozens of Katyusha rockets. Here, Israeli Jews and Arabs seek cover together. Tempers are frayed. Heated arguments follow.

The Israeli-Arab woman on the right accuses the Jewish woman of celebrating when Arabs are killed. The Jewish woman yells back, "How could you say that, when we give you shelter?"

Here, the Jews support the Israeli offensive. The Arabs want a cease-fire.

"We don't want Israel striking Lebanon, or Lebanon hitting Israel," says Fiakah Suwaad (ph), an Israeli Arab. "I'm scared," she tells me. "It's not easy in this bunker."

(on camera): This bunker is about 20 feet underground. It's incredibly hot. And the air is thick and stale. It seems difficult to breathe. And the people have been living like this for almost two weeks now.

(voice-over): It's hardest on the children. They're bored. Some are too young to understand.

HAIM SABAG, RESIDENT OF NAHARIYA, ISRAEL: I don't go to the schools. I don't go to play. Of course, the -- the children are not used to it. And, sometimes, they cry when they heard the bomb.

VAUSE: Here, they cook meals, watch television for the latest news, and wait -- wait for either a cease-fire or more rockets.

John Vause, CNN, Nahariya, Northern Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: It's back to our Middle East coverage in just a moment.

But, first, we want to get to Betty Nguyen in the CNN Newsroom with details on a developing story -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, we have more information on that ship that is listing at 80 degrees, and taking on water, off the coast of Alaska.

Here's what we know so far from the Coast Guard. We got this latest information just minutes ago. The ship is called the Cougar Ace. It's a 654-foot car carrier. And, as I mentioned, it's listing at 80 degrees and taking water. It sent out an SOS around 11:00 yesterday, 11:00 p.m. last night.

Now, as we reporting earlier, that there were 20 people on board -- or 23 -- we understand now that there are 22 people on board. One of them has a broken leg, although we understand now that all crew members are wearing survival suits at this time.

Now, a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft is on the scene. It has radio contact with the ship. And it has also dropped life raft and safety measures, just in case this ship capsizes. The cause of the damage -- what is causing it to take on that water? Well, that is still unknown at this hour.

But there are two merchant vessels standing by on the scene to assist. The Cougar Ace is carrying 430 metric tons of fuel oil and 112 metric tons of diesel. And there's an oil slick so far that is extending two miles from the vessel. So, this, obviously, is another problem with the situation at hand.

On top of that, this ship is carrying over 4,000 vehicles, which were en route to Vancouver, British Columbia. But, again, there are Coast Guard -- Coast Guard -- a C-130 aircraft that is on the scene. Now, another Coast Guard cutter is on the way. But that is going to take a lot of time for it to get there. It's coming from Hawaii. And it is going to take about 20 hours for it to get there. But the good news is, two merchant ships are also on scene. So, it looks like they're getting some help. But, again, this ship is still sinking off the coast of Alaska. We will stay on top of it.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, Betty.

Well, we're going to get back to our coverage of the Middle East crisis in just a minute, but more news from across the U.S.

Police search for a sniper in the heartland. We will have details when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: In Iraq, more attacks, more deaths, more wounded Iraqis -- three roadside bombs in Baghdad killed one person and wounded six. Police also found three bodies, all shot in the head and showing signs of torture.

Then, just north of the capital, in Mosul, a suicide car bomber blew himself up, killing five Iraqi soldiers and wounding four others. In the northern city of Samarra, a car bomb exploded in front of a police command center, killing two civilians, and wounding 17 others, including seven policemen.

And, in Taji, 20 miles north of the capital, three Sunnis were shot dead.

Saddam Hussein is in the hospital, but that didn't stop his trial from resuming, after a two-week break. The U.S. military says Hussein was hospitalized yesterday, and is being fed with a tube, due to his hunger strike. Hussein is protesting the killing of three members of his defense team. A military spokesman says his life is not in danger. Hussein and seven others are charged with killing scores of people after a failed assassination attempt in 1982. Closing arguments are scheduled to continue on Wednesday.

They are in the Army, wounded in Iraq, and now citizens of the United States. President Bush presided over a naturalization ceremony today for three soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We gain three new citizens today, men who knew the cost of freedom, and are willing to pay that cost, so others can live free.

It's a privilege to be their commander in chief. And I look forward to calling them fellow citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Mr. Bush also used his visit to urge Congress to break the stalemate over reforming immigration laws, saying that any legislation must be comprehensive. Well, despite a government crackdown in Baghdad, despite U.S. forces slugging it out with insurgents, there's no end in sight to the deadly violence in Iraq. With this backdrop, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is headed for a White House meeting with President Bush -- first stop, London, where Mr. Maliki held talks today with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

His assurance to Mr. Bush is expected to be the same one that he delivered to Mr. Blair: Iraq will not slide into civil war.

After their meeting tomorrow, President Bush and Prime Minister Maliki plan to hold a news conference. CNN will bring that to you live, starting at 11:25 a.m. Eastern time.

Tracking down a sniper -- investigators in Indiana are on the trail of a person who has been taking deadly aim at vehicles on Interstate 65 and 69. Already, one person has been killed, another wounded.

Reporter Melanie Snow with CNN affiliate WHAS is on the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELANIE SNOW, WHAS REPORTER: What we know at this hour, is Indiana State Police are looking at three different scenarios in this case: one, that there is a single shooter in all four shootings; two, that the incidents are unrelated and completely coincidental that they happened on the same night.

And the third scenario they're looking at is that this is a conspiracy between several shooters, potentially multiple shooters in this case. In the meantime, Indiana State Police have beefed up patrols along the highway and continue to comb the hundreds of miles between Seymour and Delaware County.

(voice-over): The Esenburg family left northern Indiana early this morning. They are heading south down I-65. There's more on their minds than just the vacation.

REGINA ESENBURG, TRAVELING DOWN INTERSTATE 65 IN INDIANA: Yes, I am traveling with my two children. So, we will make sure that we stay together and keep our eyes open for thing.

SNOW: The Esenburgs are like a lot of travelers on this stretch of highway. They are afraid. But the Indiana State Police are doubling patrols and continuing to gather evidence during this first critical 48 hours.

SERGEANT JERRY GOODIN, SPOKESMAN, INDIANA STATE POLICE: After we get everything collected that we think we can do and possibly get done on a crime scene point of view, and also with interviews with witnesses and victims, then -- then, we are going to be sitting down and trying to conflate all of our information with all the detectives and the crime scene investigator from Redkey.

SNOW: At this stage, Indiana State Police are seeking assistance from outside states, and trying to gather ballistics evidence on a recovered bullet.

GOODIN: One thing about ballistics is, is, whenever a bullet enters an object, sometimes, it does splinter. So, we don't -- I -- I don't know personally how many bullets and how many of them were fragments, and those types of things. So, we are going to let our ballistics experts, up in the Indianapolis State Police Laboratory, decide what's good, you know, as -- as a whole bullet, and what can they determine out of it.

SNOW: As motorists take to the roadways, police encourage them to be aware of their surroundings and call immediately if they see something suspicious.

GOODIN: Right now, we have received tips. Obviously, every tip stands on its own merit. Every bit of information that somebody gives you, there is something in there, possibly, that we can use. And, as far as credible, I'm going to say yes, because every tip is credible to us.

SNOW (on camera): We know that Robert Hartl, who was injured in one of the shootings, is returning home with his family from Iowa. He was released from the hospital yesterday.

And the family of Jerry Ross, two members of which were with him at the time of the shooting, they are being interviewed by police and being treated as witnesses in this case.

In the meantime, if you have any information about this case, you are urged to call 1-800-622-4962.

Melanie Snow, for CNN, in Seymour, Indiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Red berets at the ready, the Guardian Angels take to the streets of Phoenix, Arizona, after a series of shootings. The volunteer crime-watchers began neighborhood patrols last week, moving into a second neighborhood over the weekend.

Recent shootings in the Phoenix area have left 11 people dead, dozens wounded. That's given rise to worries that two serial killers may be at work in the city. Twenty-four unarmed Guardian Angels are patrolling the two areas now.

Life in prison or a mental institution, that is what awaits Andrea Yates, depending on what jurors in her retrial decide. Right now, they are hearing from the attorneys one last time.

Defense attorneys argue, Yates suffered from severe postpartum depression, was delusional, and believed that she had to kill her children to save them from hell.

Prosecutors say, while she may be mentally ill, she knew what she was doing. And what she was doing was wrong. Yates, who admits drowning her five children one by one in the bathtub, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. A political crisis leads to a personal one for many thousands of -- of civilians. Humanitarian groups head into a war zone to help innocent people caught in the crossfire. LIVE FROM talks to the man helping lead aid efforts in Beirut.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's expected to hit 90 in Saint Louis today, hot, sticky and dangerous for the 230,000 homes and businesses without electricity.

Storms last week knocked out power to a half-a-million customers. Utility workers from as far away as Arizona are working to get people back online. Four deaths in the area are blamed on the storms or high temperatures. And it could be at least four days before everyone's service is back on.

And it's week two without electricity for anywhere -- or anywhere between 12,000 and 16,000 people in Queens. New York's mayor says that the utility company is expected to make big progress in restoring power today. Nearly 100,000 people were affected at the height of the power outage last week.

And a couple of big mergers are sparking a major rally on Wall Street.

Susan Lisovicz, live from the New York Stock Exchange, with the latest -- hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Well, investors love corporate mergers. And today could be the biggest merger Monday in a while. Leading the way is what could be the biggest leveraged buyout in history, the sale of hospital operator HCA to a group led by private equity firms for $33 billion, including its debt.

AMD, the world's second biggest chip-maker, is also getting in to the act, buying P.C. graphics chip-maker ATI Technologies for $5.4 billion. Shares of AMD are lower on the news. But ATI is soaring 18 percent.

Pharmaceutical companies are among the biggest winners today, after both Merck and Schering-Plough reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

And it's playing out in a big way. We're at session highs right now -- Dow Jones industrials gaining back 180 points, after Friday's sell-off. We're back above the 11000 mark, as you can see. The Nasdaq composite, which closed at session -- 14-month lows on Friday, is jumping 38 points, or 2 percent -- so, a very nice rally, indeed in the final hour of trading -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, raising the minimum wage has been a topic of discussion on Capitol Hill this year. And it appears that wages are standing still for another group of workers as well. Tell us about that.

LISOVICZ: Big group of workers, Kyra.

Wage stagnation has been a problem for blue-collar workers for years. But now it's hitting people with bachelor's degrees for the first time since the 1970s. According to White House economists, salaries for workers with four-year college degrees fell more than 5 percent from 2000 to 2004, when adjusted for inflation.

The decline affects about 30 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 59. The trend is unusual, because it's coming during a period of economic growth. According to the Economic Policy Institute, wages rose 12 percent during the last period of economic growth, between 1995 and 2000 -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, what's blamed for the slowdown?

LISOVICZ: Well, in the 1970s, there was just too many workers. The cause was a flood of baby boomers entering the job market.

This time, part of the blame is being pinned on something we have talked about a lot. You can call it outsourcing. You can call it out-shoring. It's increasingly affecting white-collar sectors, such as engineering and software design.

Also, more companies are replacing salaried positions with lower- paid part-time and freelance workers, who don't get benefits. According to one labor economist, the number of salaried jobs in the work force has increased just 2.5 percent during they current recovery, compared to an average of nearly 12 percent during to the last five economic recoveries.

The trend may help to explain why, despite strong economic growth, surveys show that many Americans think President Bush has not managed the economy very well.

And that's the latest from Wall Street.

Stay with us. LIVE FROM will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com